The meaning of Hanukkah
Once a minor holiday for observant Jews, Hanukkah has become a major celebration in the U.S. Why?
What is Hanukkah?
Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem after a successful Jewish revolt against the Seleucid Empire in 160 BCE. The Seleucid dynasty, founded by one of Alexander the Great’s generals after the Macedonian Empire was divided upon Alexander’s death, spread Greek culture, ideas, and religion throughout the ancient Middle East. The Jews were initially granted a measure of autonomy within this empire. But in 175 BCE, King Antiochus IV Epiphanes instituted a program of forced assimilation in Judea, outlawing the Jewish faith and desecrating the Temple by sacrificing a pig and erecting an altar to Zeus. After a yearslong campaign of guerrilla warfare, Jewish rebels known as the Maccabees defeated the Seleucids. Tradition holds that when the Maccabees recaptured the Temple, there was only one vial of undefiled olive oil, enough to light the seven lamps of the Temple menorah for just one day. Miraculously, the lamps kept burning for eight days, enough time to press and consecrate more oil. That’s why Hanukkah is celebrated for eight days and is called the Festival of Lights.
How is it celebrated?
miracle of lights, which first appears in writing nearly 600 years after the Maccabean Revolt, in the collection of Jewish laws and teachings called the Talmud. Some historians believe Hanukkah celebrations evolved alongside other winter solstice festivals incorporating fire and light amid the darkest days of the year. “Although Hanukkah today is one of the most popular and recognizable of Jewish holidays in the minds of non-Jews, this is only a relatively recent development,” writes Tatjana Lichtenstein, director of the Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Texas. “For centuries, Hanukkah remained less religiously and culturally significant than almost any other of the Jewish holidays.”
When did that change?